If you've ever used a hula hoop, you have Joan Anderson to thank—though she didn't profit from the toy craze. Anderson's death this month at age 101 in California prompts the New York Times to recount her extraordinary story—one that only came to light in the 2018 documentary Hula Girl. The details:
- Anderson was living in Los Angeles in 1956 when she visited her native Australia and saw locals having a blast swiveling wooden hoops for exercise. Back in LA, she asked her mother to mail her one. A dinner party quip about her "doing the hula" inspired the now-iconic name.